Laois SHC final: History for Clough Ballacolla in pulsating county final

Just like their semi-final win over Rathdowney-Errill, Clough-Ballacolla came to life in the second half

Clough Ballacolla 1-25 Borris-Kilcotton 2-21 

Clough Ballacolla made history on Sunday as they claimed back-to-back Laois SHC titles for the first time as they battled back from a seven-point interval deficit to edge a thriller with Borris-Kilcotton.

Borris-Kilcotton were full value for their halftime lead with a Daire Quinlan goal just before the break leaving them 1-14 to 0-10 in front. They led 0-6 to 0-0 in the opening 10 minutes but Clough Ballacolla slowly began to find their feet approaching the break. Just like their semi-final win over Rathdowney-Errill, Clough-Ballacolla came to life in the second half. They hit 1-4 straight off the bat and by the 38th minute the sides were level with Stephen Bergin claiming the goal.

Stephen Dunphy found the net for the Borris-Kilcotton men to put them back in control before a pulsating closing quarter ensued. Willie Dunphy landed some unbelievable scores from all angles but the game was going down to the wire. With the sides level, deep into injury time, Clough-Ballacolla won a free 40 metres from the target with captain Stephen Maher nailing it to win the decider and finish with a 14 point tally.

Scorers for Clough-Ballacolla: S Maher 0-14 (0-10 frees, 0-2 65s), W Dunphy 0-5, S Bergin 1-1, A Corby and L Cleere 0-2 each, W Hyland 0-1.  

Scorers for Borris-Kilcotton: PJ Scully 0-12 (0-9 frees, 0-1 S/L and 0-1 '65), D Quinlan 1-1, S Dunphy 1-1, A Dunphy 0-3, J Campion 0-2, C Stapleton 0-1, N Foyle 0-1.

CLOUGH BALLACOLLA: C Dunne; D Conway, D Maher, B Corby; T Delaney, M McEvoy, L Cleere; W Hyland, A Corby; R Phelan, J Walshe, J Dwyer; W Dunphy, S Maher, S Bergin. 

Subs: R Broderick for M McEvoy (42), C Dunne for J Dwyer (51).

BORRIS-KILCOTTON: E Fleming; S Finan, E Parlon, P Tynan; S Phelan, M Whelan, P Whelan; C Stapleton, J Campion; A Dunphy, PJ Scully, D Phelan; S Dunphy, N Foyle, N Quinlan.

Subs: N Coss for C Stapleton (temp 32-36m), E Jones for D Quinlan (51), N Coss for C Stapleton (58), D Carey for S Dunphy (60).

Referee: John Lalor (Shanahoe).